MESQUITE, TEXAS

'Mesquite' is a suburb of Dallas located in Dallas County and Kaufman County, Texas (USA). The city had a total population of 124,523 in the 2000 census which increased to 129,902 in the 2005 census estimate. Mesquite is home to the Mesquite Championship Rodeo and is known as the "Rodeo Capital of Texas." The city is also home to computer video game producer id Software, creators of ''Doom'' and ''Quake''. In 2001, the Mesquite Skeeters high school football team won the 5A Division I State Championship.

Contents

History

Geography

Education

Public schools

Private schools

Colleges and universities

Transportation

Demographics

Constructions

External links

References

History

The city was created on May 22, 1873 by A.R. Alcott, a Texas & Pacific Railway engineer who purchased land along the Texas & Pacific line outside of Dallas. The railroad, which ran from Dallas to Shreveport, began stopping at the newly-created town shortly thereafter, and the city began to grow around the railroad. The city was officially incorporated on December 3, 1887.
Mesquite prospered through the late 19th century and early 20th century as a farming community growing cotton, hay, corn and sugar and using the railroad to ship raw goods. The town remained predominantly agrarian until after World War II when the suburban boom also took root in Mesquite. The city's population rapidly grew from 1,696 in the 1950 census to 27,526 in 1960 and 55,131 in 1970.
In 1958, the Mesquite Championship Rodeo was established, and in 1959, Big Town Mall opened as the first enclosed shopping mall in the Southwest. The mall was demolished in the summer of 2006.
By 1970, LBJ Freeway (I-635) was constructed, connecting Mesquite to its neighbors, Garland to the north and Balch Springs to the south. Also in 1971, Town East Mall was constructed. The mall was used by director Ron Howard to film portions of the movie "Cotton Candy" in 1978. The mall's associated traffic and shops would continue to grow the town. By the 1990 census, the town had grown to 101,484 people, nearly twice the population twenty years earlier.
In 1986, the Mesquite Arena (now named Resistol Arena) opened its doors as the new home for the Mesquite Championship Rodeo. By 1998, the facility was expanded to include a Convention Center, Exhibition Hall and a Hampton Inn & Suites.

Geography

Mesquite is located at (32.782878, -96.609862).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 112.6 km² (43.5 mi²). 112.5 km² (43.4 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.12%) is water.

Education

Public schools

Mesquite Independent School District provides primary and secondary (K-12) education to most areas of Mesquite. A small portion of Mesquite is served by Dallas Independent School District. While another small area in Kaufman County is within the Forney Independent School District, the section has no residents.
Mesquite is home to five public high schools: Mesquite High School, North Mesquite High School, West Mesquite High School, Poteet High School, John Horn High School.

Private schools

Dallas Christian High School is located in Mesquite.

Colleges and universities

Higher education is provided by two institutions. Eastfield College provides undergraduate degrees and continuing education credits as part of the Dallas County Community College District. The Texas A&M University-Commerce Mesquite Metroplex Center provides graduate-level courses and degrees in a variety of fields.

Transportation

Mesquite is served by a publicly owned and -operated airport, Mesquite Metro Airport.^[1] The airport includes a 6,000 ft. lighted runway with ILS. General aviation comprises approximately 75% of daily operations while commercial aviation comprises the rest.^[2] Mesquite Metro Airport is popular among transient aircraft due to its location near Dallas and favorable fuel prices.^[3]
Two other nearby airports, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field, provide regular commercial passenger service to the region. Love Field is approximately 15 miles from Mesquite; DFW Airport is approximately 30 miles from Mesquite.
Mesquite is not a member of Dallas Area Rapid Transit, so general public transportation is not available in the city. However, the city operates its own paratransit service (Mesquite Transportation for the Elderly and Disabled or MTED) for elderly and disabled residents.^[4]
Union Pacific Railroad operates an intermodal facility for its freight rail service as part of the Skyline Industrial Park.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 124,523 people, 43,926 households, and 32,900 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,107.3/km² (2,868.1/mi²). There were 46,245 housing units at an average density of 411.2/km² (1,065.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 73.54% White, 13.32% African American, 0.60% Native American, 3.75% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 6.43% from other races, and 2.31% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 15.66% of the population.
There were 43,926 households out of which 43.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.4% were married couples living together, 14.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.1% were non-families. 20.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.27.
In the city the population was spread out with 30.5% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 33.9% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 7.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 93.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $50,424, and the median income for a family was $56,357. Males had a median income of $37,756 versus $29,905 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,890. About 5.0% of families and 6.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.8% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over.

Constructions

★ Mesquite Tower, a lattice tower of unusual design.

★ Town East Tower is the tallest inhabited building in Mesquite, standing seven stories high.

External links

★ Official website

★

References

1. [1] ''City of Mesquite web site.'' Access 10 September, 2006
2. [2] ''City of Mesquite web site.'' Accessed 9 September, 2006
3. [3]''AirNav: Mesquite Metro Airport.'' Accessed 8 September, 2006
4. [4]''City of Mesquite web site.'' Accessed 9 September, 2006